The office was instituted in 1809 as a result of the constitutional
Instrument of Government promulgated in the same year. Until 1876 the office was called
Prime Minister for Foreign Affairs (, commonly known as
utrikesstatsminister), similar to the office of
Prime Minister for Justice (). The Prime Minister for Foreign Affairs initially served as head of the Cabinet of Foreign Mail Exchange at the
Royal Office. Following the ministry reform in 1840, the Prime Minister for Foreign Affairs became head of the newly instituted
Ministry for Foreign Affairs. In 1876 the office proper of
Prime Minister of Sweden was created and at the same time the Prime Minister for Foreign Affairs was nominally demoted to a mere Minister. The holder of the office did however continue to be
styled as "Your excellency", until 1974 when the new
Instrument of Government came into force. Before the parliamentary breakthrough in the early 20th century, that title had been granted exclusively to members of the most prominent
noble families. ==Office holders==